London 2012 Olympics: credibility on the line as London battles Doha to host 2017 World Athletics Championship

Strictly speaking the 27 members of the International Association of Athletics
Federations Council will be meeting to decide the location of the 2017 World
Athletics Championship when they sit down together in Monaco on Friday.

On the campaign trail: Lord Coe is lobbying hard to win London the 2017 World Athletics ChampionshipPhoto: AP

But the ramifications of their decision will extend well beyond the question of where the world’s best athletes will be running, jumping and throwing six years hence, and could yet see the 2019 venue decided as well in a bid to seize the opportunity to make the most of bids from London and Doha that are attractive for very different reasons.

For London and Doha, as well as the IAAF, the stakes in Monaco are high, but the decision will resound beyond both cities. The Olympic movement has a lot riding on it, specifically the impact on Qatar’s bid for the 2020 Games, and the career prospects of major figures, including Lord Coe, will be affected.

For London and Coe, the fate of the Olympic Stadium and the credibility of the 2012 Games legacy will be massively impacted by the IAAF’s decision.

The London 2012 chairman has been the most influential figure in the retention of the track, regardless of how it is funded. The legacy to athletics was a condition of the 2012 Olympic bid, and one that the bid team believe persuaded the francophone Senegalese president of the IAAF, Lamine Diack, to rally support for London over Paris.

The recent collapse of West Ham’s bid for the stadium demonstrates the cost of honouring that promise. Should London win on Friday the World Championships provide a logic to retaining the track, even if it does not solve the question of who pays for it. That is the unspoken message to Diack: help us deliver the legacy you wanted. It is surely no coincidence that the Olympic Park Legacy Company has put back the issue of tender documents until after Friday’s decision, and chairman Baroness Ford will be in Monaco to reassure voters that the track commitment is genuine.

Should London lose, however, or find itself asked to accept 2019 as a consolation prize, the athletics imperative may look less attractive. The Government and Mayor Boris Johnson are onside for now, but in a political climate chilled by the economic slump subsidy for a sporting showpiece that struggles to cover its costs may be a tougher sell.

Falling temperatures and political will are not problems Doha has to address, but the stakes for Qatar are just as high. Having won the 2022 World Cup the Gulf state wants to add the 2020 Summer Games, but is facing opposition from within the International Olympic Committee to its plans. The 2017 bid is seen as a crucial means of overcoming it.

Unlike the World Cup, which will be held in 50C temperatures of midsummer, Doha is proposing hosting the Olympics and World Championships in September-October to ease concerns over athlete welfare.

As with football, air-conditioning is proposed as a panacea, though fresh concerns over the technology from its designers are a blow to confidence in Qatar’s plans. September temperatures of up to 42C also suggest marathon runners and racewalkers may be looking forward to it less than their track-and-field counterparts.

But should the IAAF approve a Doha World Championship it would be a huge endorsement of Qatar’s 2020 bid from the biggest sport in the Olympics, potentially forcing the IOC’s hand when it comes to whether to shortlist Doha for 2020.

Add to this mix the personal issue of who will succeed Diack, a race widely seen as a contest between Coe and Ukrainian Sergei Bubka, and Friday’s decision is about way more than the venue for a foot-race.

The intersection of competing interests is why a dual-award of the 2017 and 2019 events may be so attractive to Diack and his board.

Both bids are attractive. London would return the event to a new stadium in western Europe, a crucial market becoming apathetic about the sport. Doha would open up new markets and broadcasters, as well as be financially rewarding to the IAAF, which would receive a new sponsor and £5 million to underwrite prize money.

The issue is persuading one of them to go second. London has most to lose from such a concession. They only have government guarantees for and event in 2017 and say they could not accept 2019 were it offered. There is confidence in the camp that the numbers look good were it to come to a straight fight.

Doha are formally committed to 2017, but accepting 2019 would still enhance their Olympic prospects and make the World Athletics the ultimate test event. Not for the first time, the Gulf’s most ambitious state could still emerge as the biggest winner in Monaco.